Power Supply noise... What should I chose?

[Charly]

Hello

Thinking of getting a new PC.

Have a quick question.

THE PSU available seem to go from 450-650w, and then "ultra quiet" ones from 650 upward.

Are the lower powered ones more noisy?

I don't think I need 650w, but I would rather pay extra if it is much quieter than the standard PSUs.

Cheers

 

[keynes]

I don't think there would be a noticeable difference in noise, is it for gaming? do you have a dedicated gpu?

 

[mantadog]

Ultra quiet ones have a 0 rpm fan mode. meaning the fan will not kick in until you reach a certain load on the PSU. The lower spec ones just run all the time with the fan ramping up as you get nearer peak power.

If your getting a gaming rig with a decent GPU I'd grab a 650w 'ultra quite' one anyway. They are just better.

 

[Charly]

Cheers mate.

I probably will look to a 2gb graphics card. I am not that fussed as I do not play much in the way of shooters or other graphically intensive games (in theory). Playing game like Football Manager or Civ4. and Company of Heroes. the CPU is my primary concern. I whipped up a PC on the configurator, and it told me that I did not need the 650w, but a quiet PC is important to me, and I would rather chuck some cash at that if the other PSUs make more noise.

 

[mantadog]

the 'gb' of a GPU isn't all that important. You need to look at benchmarks and get a rough price point you want to stick to. if you need a hand post here and we can point you in the right direction

 

[Charly]

the 'gb' of a GPU isn't all that important. You need to look at benchmarks and get a rough price point you want to stick to. if you need a hand post here and we can point you in the right direction

To be honest, I am not that bothered about the graphics card.

I have got the go ahead to get a new PC for about £1,000 (excluding monitor).

I want it to be as quiet as possible, with minimal sound and light leakage.

Can you recommend a case? I don't really want to spend much on a case, as I don't want anything flashy. I hate ones that have a window to the innards with lots of flashy lights

Any advice you have on this or anything else would be most welcome.

IS it a good idea to go with a SSD for the operating system?

What do you recommend as minimum memory?

I am thinking of using the Vortex 1000 as a starting point.

 

[mantadog]

Speccing a 1k machine, only to buy a cheap case is not how you should be thinking. You wouldn't buy a top of the range car and put budget tyres on it. The case keeps everything cool, and cool = quiet so its best not to skimp.

The OS on a SSD is pretty much the way to do it, so yes if possible, get a SSD for the OS.

Minimum RAM would be 8GB these days IMO. For gaming and pretty much everything else bar heavy video work it will last for the life of the machine.

 

[bigben]

You could go for a CM690 iii. They look pretty plain and are a very good option for the money.

 

[Charly]

Speccing a 1k machine, only to buy a cheap case is not how you should be thinking. You wouldn't buy a top of the range car and put budget tyres on it. The case keeps everything cool, and cool = quiet so its best not to skimp...

I have not really paid much attention to the PC market over the last few years, Normally I would upgrade every four years or so. Its been about 4 years I think, but I am only considering an upgrade because my soundcard died a few days ago. I would probably have waited a bit longer and done a bit of research prior. As it is I am out of the loop. as to what is considered standard. The last 3 pcs I have bought have been around 2k each, which was virtually top of the range (perhaps excluding the latest top intel chip at the time).

Since then I have had two kids, so despite earning a bit more, I have less to spend, as much as I would like to whack another 2k down, I can really only afford £1000, although it seems to me that PCs are generally a bit cheaper now (I may be wrong). I am reasonably certain that spending more than £1000 wont really improve my gaming experience that much anyway as the money seems to be in the graphics card area, which I am not bothered about too much.

 

[Charly]

How does this look? I have broken my budget slightly, so the kids will be on bread and butter for a few weeks... I would appreciate any comments

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 III ADVANCED CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

1st Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)

Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler (£29)

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ FX OEM (£28)

Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

 

[bigben]

What do you use it for?

 

[vanthus]

If you can push your budget just a bit more I would go for something like this.
Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 III ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z97-HD3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE BOARDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL with GTX 770/780/780/TITAN GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,073.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/PDukPH4TJw/